


A 100 Ways This Could All Go Wrong

by commanderlexacoon



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ballet, Bounty Hunter Octavia, Business Woman Clarke, CEO rivals, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Witchcraft, claia, hopemori, k pop, levtavia - Freeform, niycho, seamechanic - Freeform, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:07:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commanderlexacoon/pseuds/commanderlexacoon
Summary: These are the characters we’ve all seen and loved to watch before, but now in an interconnected universe where many things lead to others and of course...stuff happens!
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/John Murphy (mentioned), Clarke Griffin/Lexa (mentioned), Echo/Bellamy Blake (Mentioned), Echo/Hope Diyoza (Mentioned), Echo/Niylah, Emori/Hope Diyoza, Emori/Raven Reyes (Mentioned), Gaia/Clarke Griffin, Levitt/Octavia Blake, Luna/Raven Reyes, Octavia Blake/Levitt, Octavia Blake/Lincoln (mentioned), Raven Reyes/John Murphy (mentioned)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. The Playlist

** _the playlist_ **

_1._ black sheep - kailee morgue

 _2._ your love (déjà vu) - the glass animals

 _3._ kill our way to heaven - michl

 _4._ burn it down - daughter

 _5._ put it straight - (g)i-dle

 _6._ blue - the neighbourhood

 _7._ cardigan - taylor swift

 _8._ high enough - k. flay

 _9._ love and war - fleurie

 _10._ lips - the xx

 _11._ another love - tom odell

 _12._ power - isak danielson

 _13._ blood in the cut - k. flay

 _14._ oh my god - (g)i-dle

 _15._ terrible thing - ag ft. brad gordon 

_16._ writing’s on the wall - sam smith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this isn’t technically a chapter but it’s got the tunes that will shape up the plots around the five couples within the fic!! for anyone interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/60e4hMx5bd2rP5Oa3gShTk?si=apHyWo_iSHeUh7owmkJOfg


	2. Witch City! (Raven)

“Of all the goddamn places to end up in, why did it have to be Salem,” Raven Reyes grumbled while slouching into the seat of her car. 

It had been a month since Polis corporate had flown her from the quiet, sun-drenched city of Arkadia to the Witch City itself known as Salem. Aside from the weather being a complete travesty-ridden downgrade when the summers had passed, Raven also couldn’t find herself comforted by the fact that the ocean was so startlingly close.

It was the sourest memory that acted as a blind-spot when a body of water was near. Something she chose not to dwell over deeply in years, and for good reason...

Raven shuddered the memory from out of sight, as it was certainly not the best fucking way to start any first official day on the job as manager. 

“Manager Reyes of Polis Fashion Corp, who would’ve guessed?” Raven huffed, though her overlay was much more of a burden than a congratulatory delight.

This was her dream job, she should’ve been content at the very least. But every heralded crown has the luxury of only looking through a glass cage in a museum, lonely and untouched was the life of a successful woman. 

It was a death sentence to whatever emotional ties she had planned on ever having, accepting this tremulous job was. It not only required every inch of her spare time due to popularity and managing, but it required every mile her train of thought could track. She might as well be the stereotypical “I’m definitely married! Married to my job that is!” type of people, but also to what use was being anything else? She was always picked second anyways, and this was the first time she wasn’t for almost anything.

It was the first time that she was...well...first. So even without a relationship, shouldn’t she feel enough?

An alarm startled Raven out of her bitter daydream, leading to the gut-wrenching realization that she only had five sweet minutes left to lose if she didn’t collect her shit together as the clock crept closer to 8:30 a.m.

“God-fucking-dammit,” Raven murmured, starting the car and pushing the stick in drive all in a motion’s brisk. She might as well kiss her morning coffee run goodbye seeing as Salem Square was already a living hell to try and manage even on the best of days. And of course, she had to start on the very first day of October, meaning tourists from the stretch of every continent would be coming to visit for Halloween season. 

Pushing through the traffic and the crowds as she rushed was to of no avail, as by the time Raven Reyes arrived to the Polis Fashion front doors (that screamed “try-hard” thanks to her CEO and longtime friend, Echo) she had gotten there a good ten minutes past 8:30. The security waited not for her as well, despite her best efforts to argue around their prude attitudes. 

“Is this absolutely necessary?” Raven grumbled before stepping through the detectors, which seemed to taunt her in their slowness to cooperate with the guards. “‘Course, ma’am,” one somewhat snapped, leaving Raven feeling a tinge of guilt as there was only one person to blame for her lateness, and that was—

“Look who finally decided to show up! Raven Reyes, just the manager of this franchise, no biggie!” A snide comment from none other than her best friend, and her biggest pain in the ass most notably, John Murphy.

She whirled one the direction the corner hallway at which he stood, smirking irritably with that obnoxious toothy grin of his. And worse yet while she remained patted down, he continued his playful mantra. “Who knew I’d even get here before you, Reyes? Time and you having a difficult relationship it seems...”

Raven snorted at this and hurried beside him out of sight of the guards to make her tartful reply. “Not as difficult as your relationship with getting a job as assistant manager that doesn’t require me kissing up Echo’s ass to hire you.” 

She took delight in his slight confidence falter, but he quickly resumed his pride. “But you used to do that anyways on the daily with Echo, didn’t you?” 

She gasped aloud and punched him hard with her free hand in the arm, yet that didn’t stop him from nearly bursting into insufferable laughter.

“Damn you, Murphy!” She hissed, eyeing around them as they walked to make sure no one heard his comment. “You know Echo and I are completely professional now!” 

“As professional as we used to be?” He sneered crudely, reminiscing of their previous relationship some two years before. 

Raven dryly laughed. “You’re on such a fucking role with pushing my buttons today,” she warned him, but even within the sourest of her words, she still couldn’t hide the genuine smile creeping across her lips. 

“You’re gonna be pushing the company’s if this becomes a habit. Echo’s been stressed as it is with the new rival springing up from out of fucking nowhere,” Murphy said much more hushed and seriously.

Raven took her key card from her neck-band and scanned to unlock the room which held two singular elevators. “Aren’t we all...” she mumbled as the doors opened excruciatingly slow.

“You look hot today by the way,” Murphy complimented her coyly as he stepped over to push the elevator buttons. In truth, she did look striking today, as for the first time in months she did something with her hair aside from a tight ponytail or in loose waves.

In fact, her whole get-up included of nothing she’d normally ever wear, but in turn allowed her to see a new side of herself that boosted her self-confidence to healthy levels for the first time in forever. Waterfalling down her collarbone was a fishtail braid she had spent dreadful hours learning in her time alone after moving in and a new snow-white trench coat that her friend Clarke Griffin has gotten her for a birthday present not too long ago. She radiated confidence and pristine beauty, and not even she could hide from that acknowledgement.

She smiled at this in partly out of embarrassment and annoyance. “You too, cockroach,” she responded as the huddled into the elevator shaft.

But aside from her exterior looks, Raven Reyes felt anything but “hot” on this god-forsaken day.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

“Any ideas on a new sales pitch?” A director from the board asked across the table towards Raven. Closing her laptop after recording her note of absence in a sorrowful apology that would be sent out via email to all of her coworkers, Raven exhaled slowly. In truth, she had a few, but none that would particularly strike a nerve in a town such as Salem, which was another reason she dreaded having to move to the city. 

“Not in particular that would suit us here,” Raven sighed honestly, meeting the eyes of several disappointed faces within the room. “I’ve run across a few that may seem cliché for the time being but would definitely work in the long-run,” Raven managed as an effort to save herself. 

Pulling out a notebook in the now deafening silence with all eyes on her, she skimmed through the list of seldom ideas she had been able to think of within the month of staying in Salem. Only one stood out to her; however, and it was as cliché as cliché could just about fucking be...

“...Um, how about witches?” Raven asked, and to her surprise, only a few rolled their eyes and more happened to shrug in what seemed like half-acquitted agreement. “And I’m not talking about the Halloween-accustomed witch stereotype, but using and incorporating the ideas and suggestions from actual witches here in Salem to perhaps become a more inclusive-like brand?”

She was met with more eye-rolls, one even belonging to Murphy himself. 

Throwing him a ghastly glare, she found herself feeling the weight of her anxiety levels rising, to her utter dismay. “Why’re you rolling your eyes, I talked to you about this pitch not even a week ago!” Raven snapped at her co-manager, who in turn shrugged and sighed. “That was before I thought it over, Ms. Reyes. This city is filled with loads—if not a shit-ton—of witch-themed attractions, gifts, and fashion. What will that look like for the company to succumb to looking like the rest of the town with nothing standing out?” 

Raven was about to retort to his harsh, yet all the while bitterly valid criticism, until the new intern, Harper McIntyre, spoke before her. “In truth, we’d be one of the first major businesses to ever tackle something so mainstream, which would boost our sales and create actually an even better look as compared to our rivals across the nation.”

Shooting Murphy a satirically smug smirk, Raven nodded in agreement and in slight relief. “Exactly what I was thinking, Ms. McIntyre,” Raven responded, giving her an affirming smile as well. 

“Okay yeah, that makes sense from that standpoint, but how are you even going to merge ‘witch stuff’ into our brand? It’s not like we can just print shitty pentagrams on cloth and make it into dress to call ‘never-before-seen’ witch fashion,” said Murphy with an exasperated sigh. 

Man, she may adore Murphy, but despite how painfully well he was offering her critiques, she was still feeling anything but in the mood to argue this long about something as simple as fucking witches. They had to be simple, right?

“Which is why for some of the new interns I’d like to make it part of your hours to contact cooperative practitioners within the city to ask them what they’d be willing to share and see from our company,” Raven offered, only to be met with another eye roll from a longtime board member named Finn Collins.

“So that’s what we’re going to do? Go doorstep to doorstep begging for flour practically?” He spat out, gaining a few chuckles and held-in laughter from a few board members. 

“I don’t believe you’re in the place to be making such assumptions about rightful education, Mr. Collins,” Raven addressed him gravely, taking pleasure in seeing the smug smiles die quickly. “We best continue this conversation after closing and you’d be wise to keep the remarks to yourself for now. I do hope we’re perfectly clear.” 

Despite the awkward yet riveting silence that fell after Raven had finally put her goddamn foot down for the day, she pressed on without giving Finn the chance of any sort of rebuttal.

“As I said, I think it’d be in our best interest for interns to interview the witches of Salem and build our new imports from this idea, seeing as to the majority agree...” Raven trailed, eyeing everyone who gave a slight nod or mumble of agreement which was expected due to the still settling awkwardness of the room. 

Yet still, even regardless after this sudden turn of events in her favor, Raven still felt anything but “hot” nonetheless...

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

“Really? Witches?” Murphy asked for the most painfully last time as he leaned back in his chair. 

Raven dug her fingers into her scalp, squeezing her eyes shut. “Murphy can’t we please just enjoy this fucking coffee in silence?”

“You’re drinking coffee, I’m drinking chamomile to try to process everything...” he grumbled into the mug. Raven sighed and looked around the quaint coffee shop at which they stopped for lunch, where luckily they could manage business or personal affairs without being overheard by nosy spectators. 

Raven scrunched her nose and smiled satirically. “Goddamn, didn’t know you had a big grudge against crystals and hippie incantation shit,” she murmured snidely.

Murphy’s eyes widened at this chance for another witty remark. “Big switch from Business Room Reyes who grilled me for being a prick against the majority of this town’s mantra.”

Raven smiled; genuinely this time, and lowered her head to draw a finger around the rim of her mug. “You know what I meant. It’s not even that bad of an idea, you know. And I do know that you know that...”

Murphy grinned and took a chug at the rose-colored tea. “It’s good and I know you’ll manage it like you always do, but the board doesn’t know you like I do. I still don’t think they’re behind this.”

“I’ll manage, even without their approval. They’ll see eventually,” Raven promised him, still trying to convince herself just as much as she was going to convince him. It was a decent idea, good even as far as she could see, but making it work with few supporters to none will be difficult.

But it was so simple then again, what could go wrong?

“I hope so...” Murphy trailed, yet his tone brought Raven’s attention away from her mug to face him directly, noticing he was now attentive to something else entirely as he pecked nervously at the keyboard on his phone.

Raven eyed him and swallowed hard, sensing the shift in the air around him even within the spare minutes they had talked. She knew exactly what was capturing his attention with every jittery type of his thumb.

“...Is it Bellamy again?”

Murphy paused his typing, yet he was still not able to reach her eyes. It didn’t matter entirely whether he did or not, for this reaction gave her all the answers she needed. Murphy was never one for boiling over with emotional concessions or cracking fits of crying, but he couldn’t hide himself from her either. It was different with Murphy and Raven.

“What gave it away, huh?” Murphy offered a feigned playful snark, but Raven pressed her lips into a thin line and touched her hand slightly to his. “...How’s it going with you two? Only if you feel like talking about it...”

Murphy moved his hand from hers up to his mouth as a trained response to comfort himself, something he’d always done. “Not in particularly, no. It’s something I’m not even sure how I’m going to process now...” he trailed, taking another gulp of chamomile before standing up hastily. 

When Raven reacted in confusion, Murphy simply gave a small smile. “I actually gotta go take care of things, if you don’t mind.”

Raven shook her head. “No of course, go,” she offered along with her sympathies in a sad smile. “I’ll cover for you if you’re late like you did with me this morning, need be.”

Murphy’s smile widened for a split second, giving her a reassuring comfort. “You’re the best, Reyes.” 

Turning on his heels, he shuffled from their small table and out the door, grudgingly reminding Raven of the time they had to break their fling apart as it caused a great fear within her that it’d create an unrepairable rift between them. Luckily, they remained better friends because of their honesty and bond, but she wasn’t sure the same thing could be said for him and his boyfriend. 

Feeling slightly guilty for speculating on problems that were not her own for a brief second, she sighed and took her mug up to the counter to receive a friendly nod with a free to-go cup, reminding Raven that she’d ought to be thankful they didn’t overhear her slight rash talk about the town’s majority.

“Thank you, Donna. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Raven tipped the cashier and smiled, making the sudden mistake of turning too quickly without realizing there had been someone behind her in line as well.

With an unfortunate clash which resulted in both being drenched in soaking hot coffee, Raven Reyes found herself at odds with another woman with fiery auburn and blue-streaked curls and striking chocolate-colored eyes, giving Raven, now along with the burning hot coffee, a reason to feel “hot” on this goddamned Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright so this is my first time tackling and au/modern fic as my forte is mostly medieval, but i hope y’all like it!!


End file.
